Accumulating apparatus for flexible continuous sheets or webs



March 25, 1958 N J. DQROBERTSON 2,823,122

ACCUMULATING APPARATUS FOR FLEXIBLE CONTINUOUS SHEETS OR WEBS Filed Dec.27, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

March 25; 1958 J. D. ROBERTSON 2,328,122

ACCUMULATING APPARATUS FOR FLEXIBLE v v cou'rmuous SHEETS 0R WEBS FiledDec. 27, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

United States Patent John D. Robertson, Taunton, Masst, a'ssignor toMount Hope Machinery C0mpany, Taunton; Massi, a corporation ofMassachusetts Application December 27, 1955, Serial No. 555,538

6 Claims. (Cl. 27-1-23) This invention relates to improvements inaccumulating apparatus for flexible continuous sheets or webs'. Itrelates more especially to textile scrays, and the like, wherein a webof cloth, or other continuous and flexible sheet material, drawn from asupply roll, may be accumulated to provide a relatively looseintermediate sup'-' ply from which the cloth, or other sheet material,may be continuously withdrawn for processing. The inven= tion providesimprovements in the accumulating portion of such apparatus whereby thematerial within and delivering to the said accumulating portion of theapparatus is more effectively and efficiently restrained and controlledas compared with prior comparable structures and procedures.

In the textile industry, for example, a relatively loose intermediatesupply of cloth frequently is accumulated in a scray of either theso-called vertical or horizontal type. In each case, the bottom or floorof the scray ac= cumulator has a substantial portion which is inclineddownwardly with respect to a horizontal plane. The sheet materialdelivering to a scray sometimes is in a wet condition and sometimes isrelatively dry. In the socalled vertical scrays, the inclined portion ofthe scray bottom or floor ordinarily has a relatively steep incline,such as an incline of the order of seventy degrees with respect to ahorizontal plane, for example. On the other hand, the bottom or fioor ofso-c'alled horizontal scrays may have inclination of only from to 30degrees from a horizontal plane. Sheet material deliveringinto asocalled vertical scray falls away from the feed means into the scray.Sheet material delivering into a so-called horizontal scray ordinarilymust push sheet material ahead of it along the relatively slightlyinclined bottom or floor of the scray. In each case, however, it isimportantto restrain the accumulated material and the incoming materialagainst undue lateral displacement on the scray bottom or floor. But, italso is important to avoid undue resistance to slip of the materialalong the bottom or floor of a scray in the direction of its downwardinclina-' tion, this being especially true when either wet or dry sheetmaterial is delivering to a so=called horizontal scray, and when wetsheet material is delivering to a socalled vertical scray.

In the textile field, for example, cloth-handling sc rays have employedabutment means in the nature of scray side-walls for limiting lateraldisplacement of cloth delivering to and accumulated in a scray.Ordinarily the abutment means includes provision for lateral adjustmentof the abutments toward or from each other to accommodate cloth ofdifferent widths. These side-wall abutments, when properly adjusted foranypartic'ular' width of cloth being handled, do prevent undue lateraloutward displacement of the edge or] selvag'e portion which is adjacentto an abutment. But instead of settling in the scray and accumulating ina fully spread condi tion, the cloth delivering-to the scray notinfrequently tends to pile up in a folded and crease-formin co nd-i tionagainst one of the side-wall abutments. Also, when the scray is of theso-called horizontal type, friction between the deliv'ered cloth and theconventional plane surface of the bottom wall or floor of the scrayfrequently interferes with the desired sliding of the delivered clothalong the scray bottom under the urge of the incoming cloth andregardless of whether the cloth is dry or wet. An objectionable amountof friction similarly may intertote with sliding of wet cloth along thescray bottom of a so-called vertical scray. As a result, accumulatedcloth, or portions thereof, may become objectionably wrinkled andcreased within either of the mentioned types of scray.

My present inventionsubstantially overcomes the mentioned problems witha scray structure which includes means for engaging the delivered cloth,or other flexible sheet material, at spaced locations distributed acrossthe full width of the cloth and which effectively maintain all portionsof the engaged cloth against lateral displacement and lateral crawlingwithin the scray. Also, the said engaging means constitute a series ofspaced generally parallel longitudinal runners along which the deliveredcloth, or other flexible sheet material, more readily can slide ascompared with the prior scrays of the so-called horizontal and verticaltypes.

Hence, it is among the objects of my invention to provide a sheetmaterial accumulating apparatus wherein a sheet material accumulator hasa series of inclined generally parallel tracks on its bottom wall andthe de livering sheet material more readily can be moved in spreadcondition along the tracks with the tracks tending to maintainsubstantially all portions of the delivered sheet material againstlateral travel within the accumulator.

Another object of the invention is to provide a sheet materialaccumulating scray having an inclined wall poi tion provided with spacedand generally parallel upstanding longitudinal ribs for maintaining agenerally fully spread condition of sheet material accumulated in thescray while facilitating sliding movement of 'the sheet material indirection along the sp'aced'ribs.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a sheet materialaccumulating scray whose bottom wall is' inclined and provided withsheet material engaging portions which simultaneously minimizefrictional resistance to sliding of sheet material along said bottomwall and restrain the sheet material against movement of any portion ofthe engaged sheet material transversely of said bottom 'wall. 7

Still another object of the invention is to rovide a sheet materialaccumulating scray having a series of iriclined generally parallellongitudinal tracks upon which sheet material delivers in spreadcondition and along which the delivered sheet material slides whilebeing maintained by the tracks in its spread condition,- and whereinthere is means for readily varying the inclination of the tracksrelative to any predeterminedplane.-

It is, moreover, my purpose and object generally to improve thestructure and operative efficiency of sheet material accumulatingdevices and especially such devices 7 in the nature of scrays whereindelivering sheet material is accumulated as a replenishable intermediatesupply from which the material may be continuously withdrawn forprocessing.- a

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig, l is a side elevation of sheet material accumulating apparatusembodying features of my present invention;

Fig; 2 is a cross-sectional view on line 2-2 of Fig; 1;

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a fragment of the scray bottom wallof Fig} 2, on a larger scale, sheet material being diagrammaticallyrepresented by dotted lines supported by adjacent ribs out of cont-actwith the bottom wal-lortions between the su porting ribs;

Fig. 4 is a view generally similar to Fig. 3 but showing a modified formof scray bottom wall structure; and

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional side elevation with supports incross-section, of the sheet material accumulating portion of a so-calledvertical scray which is shown supported in a fixed position, and thecross-section of whose bottom wall at line 22 may be generally the sameas represented in Figs. 2 and 3 or Fig. 4.

Referring to the drawings, Fig. 1 shows sheet handling apparatus whichincludes a frame having means at one end for removably supporting asupply roll12 of cloth, or other flexible sheet material, from which thematerial may be withdrawn intermittently by a sheet-feeding means 14which is mounted on the frame above the supply roll 12. Thesheet-feeding means 14 delivers the sheet material into the accumulatoror scray 15 which has an inclined bottom wall portion 18 on which thedelivering sheet material accumulates to provide a relatively looseintermediate supply from which the material may be withdrawncontinuously for processing. narily, means (not shown) respondsautomatically, when there has been a predetermined partial depletion ofthe intermediate supply in the accumulator, to start operation of thesheet-feeding means 14.

Although the accumulator 16 is represented as pivotally supported at 20on the frame, with provision for ad justment of the angle of inclinationof bottom wall portion 18, as more particularly disclosed in myco-pending application Ser. No. 518,830, filed June 29, l955, entitledSheet Material Accumulating Apparatus, it should be understood that mypresent invention has application as well to accumulators or scrayswhich have fixed positions and fixed inclinations of their bottom wallportions, as in conventional accumulators or scrays.

The invention relates, more particularly, .to an improved accumulator orscray bottom wall structure which minimizes frictional resistance tolongitudinal sliding of delivered sheet material along the inclined.bottom wall portion while restraining substantially all portions acrossthe width of the delivered and accumulated sheet material against any.substantial movement transversely of the accumulator or scray.

The invention provides spaced generally parallel upstanding ribs 22which extend longitudinally of bottom wall portion 18 and which arearranged and adapted to serve as longitudinal tracks along which theaccumulated material can slide or be pushed more readily than when thematerial rests, as in the past, on a relatively flat and smooth scraybottom surface. But, more important is the fact that the tracks or ribs22 restrain the engaged material against appreciable lateral movement orslip on the bottom wall portion 18.

Referring more particularly to Figs. 2-3, the ribs 22 preferably haveinverted V shape providing linear crests over which the deliveringmaterial becomes draped in a sinuous manner which avoids the heretoforetroublesome problem of lateral slippage or crawling of the material withthe prior resulting tendency to accumulate and pile up to one side orthe other of the center line of the sway or other accumulator. Also, theribs 18 make it unnecessary to have adjustable side abutments which,heretofore, have had to be adjusted inwardly or outwardly to limitingpositions beyond which the material is pre-' vented from movinglaterally to either right or left within the accumulator, However, thementioned side abutments of the prior art do not prevent transversemove- I ment and slippage of the material between the abutments nor thepreviously mentioned tendency of the sheet material to become more orless piled up against one or the other of the abutments.

'The ribs or. tracks 22 may be suitably proportioned and arranged sothat their crests engage the sheet material at suitably spaced locationsacross the width of sheets which may be of any of various widths, withthe portions-1 of the material between crests more or less suspended;between adjacent crests although this intervening-material 1 Ordiadaptedto engage thedelivered limp material settling may actually'engage orrest upon the portions of scray bottom wall 18 between the rib crests.In any event, the delivering sheet material becomes deposited over thecrests of ribs 22 as diagrammatically represented in Fig. 3, and therelatively uniformly distributed delivered and accumulated material ismore readily movable along the ribs 22 as compared with materialaccumulated and sometimes piled on the conventional relatively flat andsmooth scray wall. However, the primary purpose and function of the ribs22 is to maintain the delivered and accumulated sheet material againstany appreciable lateral sliding or crawling of any portion of thematerial within the scray and independently of any side abutments. Theribs act to prevent any appreciable lateral movement of the material ineither direction, and the material continues substantially fully spreadand substantially free of objectionable wrinkles until withdrawn fromthe scray for processing.

Another important advantage of the ribs 22 is that they eliminate theneed for the heretofore required adjustable side abutments foraccommodating material of ditferent widths. Hence, a scray may be wideenough to accommodate sheet material of a predetermined maximum width,and narrower material accumulates in generally centered condition withinthe scray and no edge abutment is required to limit lateral movementthereof because the distributed ribs restrain the material againstlateral travel. This is illustrated in Fig. 3 where the diagrammaticallyrepresented sheet material has its illustrated edge portionsubstantially inward from the side of the scray or accumulator.

In the modification of Fig. 4, the scray bottom wall is represented asmade up of a series of overlapping ribbed sections 18', 18" which may bewelded together, or otherwise joined, to provide a bottom wall of anydesired width. The effect on the entering and accumulated sheet materialin the Fig. 4 form is substantially the same as in the Figs. 2 and 3embodiment.

It will be obvious that the inclined wall portion of the fixed verticaltype of accumulator of Fig. 5 may have cross-section as shown in Figs. 2and 3 or as shown in Fig. 4. The accumulator 16' of Fig. 5 isrepresented as mounted in fixed position on suitable supports 21. Also,it should be understood that the ribs 22, in either a horizontal orvertical scray, need not extend throughout the extent of the accumulatorbottom wall but may, if desired, extend only along a selected portion orselected portions of the bottom wall. Furthermore the crosssectionalshape and the number and spacing of the ribs 22 may be varied to suitparticular requirements and conditions, it being intended that thepatent shall cover, by suitable expression in the appended claims,whatever features of patentable novelty exist in the inventiondisclosed.

I claim as my invention: I

1. In a sheet material or web accumulating apparatus for relatively limpsheet material, an accurnulator having an inclined wall portion disposedfor constituting a support for limp sheet material delivered upon it,means for drawing continuous sheet material from a supply source and fordelivering it in limp condition upon said inclined wall portion therebyto accumulate an intermediate supply of sheet material in saidaccumulator, said inclined wall portion having a plurality of spaced,generally parallel straight ribs extending longitudinally along saidwall portion and said ribs being arranged and thereon with the saidmaterial draped over the crests of the ribs, whereby the said ribsrestrain the settled sheet material against any appreciable movement indirections generally transversely of the direction of horizontalextentof said ribs,each said rib having side walls extending fron 1,-its crest downwardly to said inclined wall portion, and each; saidsidewall having an outwardly sloping surface portion for slidably supportingsaid draped material, and the regions between said ribs being clear oftransverse obstructions.

2. In a sheet material or web accumulating apparatus for relatively limpsheet material, an accumulator having a wall arranged to receive andaccumulate thereon sheet material delivered thereto, means for drawingcontinuous sheet material from a supply source and delivering it ingenerally fully spread condition to said accumulator, said wall of theaccumulator having a substantial portion thereof extending with downwardinclination from said drawing and delivering means and disposed forsupporting sheet material delivered thereon for sliding down saidincline, and said inclined portion of wall having generally parallelupstanding ribs spaced apart in directions transversely of saiddownwardly extending inclined portion, said ribs being arranged andadapted to engage the sheet material delivered upon said inclinedportion with the limp sheet material draped over the crests of the ribs,whereby said ribs maintain said sheet material in generally fully spreadcondition within the accumulator as the sheet material moves downwardlyalong said ribs on said inclined portion of the accumulator wall, eachrib having side walls extending from its crest downwardly to saidinclined wall portion, and each said side wall having an outwardlysloping surface portion for slidably supporting said draped material,and the regions between said ribs being clear of transverseobstructions.

3. In a sheet material or web accumulating apparatus for relatively limpsheet material, an accumulator having a wall arranged to receive andaccumulate thereon sheet material delivered thereto, means for drawingcontinuous sheet material from a supply source and delivering it ingenerally fully spread relatively limp condition to said accumulator,said wall of the accumulator having a sub stantial portion thereofextending with downward inclination from said drawing and deliveringmeans, and said inclined portion of wall being disposed for supportingsheet material thereon and being formed with inverted generally V-shapedparallel and straight ribs which extend longitudinally downward alongsaid incline and which are spaced apart transversely of the generaldirection of their longitudinal extent, said ribs engaging the limpsheet material which becomes draped over the crests thereof whereby saidribs maintain the sheet material in generally fully spread condition asthe sheet material moves along the ribs down said inclined portion ofwall.

4. In a sheet material or web accumulating apparatus for relatively limpsheet material, an accumulator having a wall arranged to receive andaccumulate thereon sheet material delivered thereto, means for drawingcontinuous sheet material from a supply source and delivering it ingenerally fully spread and relatively limp condition to said inclinedportion of wall being disposed for support ing sheet material thereonand having generally parallel upstanding ribs at spaced intervalstransversely of said wall portion, and said ribs extendinglongitudinally down said incline and being arranged and adapted toengage said sheet material with the limp material draped over the crestsof the ribs, whereby said ribs restrain substantially all portions ofthe width of sheet material having any of various widths insubstantially fully spread condition within the accumulator, each ribhaving side walls extending from its crest downwardly to said inclinedwall portion, and each said side wall having an outwardly slopingsurface portion for slidably supporting said draped material, and theregions between said ribs being clear of transverse obstructions.

5. In a sheet material or web accumulator for relatively limp sheetmaterial, an inclined ,wall on which the sheet material accumulates andis supported for sliding movement down said incline, said wall havingupstanding generally parallel and straight ribs extending longitudinallydown said incline and spaced apart transversely of their saidlongitudinal extent, whereby sheetmaterial in relatively limp conditionbecomes draped over the said ribs with the ribs serving asfriction-reducing tracks along which the sheet material moves downwardlyalong said inclined wall, said ribs being arranged and adapted torestrain all portions of the width of the limp sheet material againstappreciable transverse movement on said wall whereby the sheet materialmoving down the inclined wall is maintained substantially in fullyspread condition, each said rib having side walls extending from itscrest downwardly to said inclined wall portion, and each said side wallhaving an outwardly sloping surface portion for slidably supporting saiddraped material, and the regions between said ribs being clear oftransverse obstructions.

6. In a sheet material or web accumulator for rela tively limp sheetmaterial, an inclined wall on which sheet material accumulates and issupported for sliding down i facilitating sliding movement of the sheetmaterial along said wall and said ribs.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSDrenkard Oct. 21, 1941 Leguillon Ian. 11, 1944

